In Linux Mint 13, the default configuration (under MATE) shows icons for the path rather than a text box containing the path. This is a huge issue for interfacing with the command line or programs, where I often need to copy/paste the path. The latest version of Ubuntu also has these annoying icons, but includes a small button to click to convert it to text-form.

Is there any way to force the file manager to show me the text form so I can copy/paste the active path? Bonus points: How do I make this the default?

1 Answer
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Just press Ctrl-l - (l for Location) .. I used to prefer the text view full time (whe I first started using Ubuntu 10.04), but I soon realized that the directory icons are actually quite useful, as they are clickable..

If you prefer the keyboard over the mouse, then Ctrl-l is very fast... Or do you want the text showing full time, for a mouse action?

You used to be able to make it permanent in Gnome2/Nautilus via this command

Thanks. That's better than the current state of things, although I'd prefer it show full-time. I copy/paste paths way more than I navigate through directory trees....
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Ari B. FriedmanJul 29 '12 at 18:37

If you still want it to be on show full time, I assume that means that you copy/paste via mouse selection and right-clicking on Copy.. If that's the case, then you may be better off by utilizing Caja's adaptation of nautilus-scripts (in Mate, it is a built-in add-on (I think that's an oxymoron :) ... you can write a simple Caja/Nautilus script which gives you the directory path by right-clicking on any file (or even sub-directory) in that particular directory, without the need to select any text; just right-click and click.. You can even assign it a shortcut key (via Gnome-accels)
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Peter.OJul 29 '12 at 19:38

That's cool. I may check into that and write one up. Thanks for the tip.
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Ari B. FriedmanJul 29 '12 at 19:39